1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle-mounted display devices for displaying the following distance of a vehicle from a preceding vehicle by means of the status of multiple blocks which are arranged in the direction of the following distance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A vehicle-mounted display device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-42957. The prior art display device is a liquid crystal display device provided on a meter panel which enables the driver to recognize the target following distance of the vehicle from a preceding vehicle in a system in which the vehicle is driven so as to track the preceding vehicle, while maintaining a predetermined following distance from the preceding vehicle. Three blocks which can be switched between a display state and a non-display state, are placed between a symbol for the preceding vehicle and a symbol for the vehicle, and by switching three blocks to a display state in the case of a xe2x80x98longxe2x80x99 target following distance, two blocks to a display state in the case of a xe2x80x98mediumxe2x80x99 target following distance and one block to a display state in the case of a xe2x80x98shortxe2x80x99 target following distance, the driver can recognize the target following distance at a glance.
The above-described conventional vehicle-mounted display device shows the target following distance by means of the number of blocks that are in a display state, but there is the problem, for example, where all three blocks are in a display state suggesting that the target following distance is xe2x80x98longxe2x80x99, if the driver does not recognize that the total number of blocks is 3, it is difficult to quickly judge that it shows a xe2x80x98longxe2x80x99 target following distance. In particular, when the number of blocks in the display state decreases, since the positions of the preceding vehicle symbol and vehicle symbol approach each other accordingly, it becomes difficult for the driver to recognize the total number of blocks and thus the possibility of erroneous recognition occurring increases. More particularly, when the driver has an erroneous recognition that the total number of blocks is 4 or 5, there is a possibility that a state in which three blocks are displayed might be recognized as a xe2x80x98mediumxe2x80x99 target following distance.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to prevent erroneous recognition by providing easy recognition of the following distance of a vehicle from a preceding vehicle when the following distance is displayed by means of the status of multiple blocks.
In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle-mounted display device is proposed which is characterized in that, the display device for displaying the following distance of a vehicle from a preceding vehicle by means of the status of multiple blocks which are arranged in the direction of the following distance, includes sub-blocks having the same length in the direction of the following distance as that of the multiple blocks, the sub-blocks being placed along the side of the multiple blocks.
With the above arrangement, since the sub-blocks having the same length in the direction of the following distance as that of the multiple blocks, are placed along the side of the multiple blocks which are arranged in the direction of the following distance in order to display the following distance of the vehicle from a preceding vehicle, the driver can easily recognize the total number of blocks by means of the sub-blocks and can achieve easy recognition of the following distance on the basis of the status of the blocks, thus preventing the occurrence of erroneous recognition.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a vehicle-mounted display device is proposed which is characterized in that, the multiple blocks can be switched between a display state and a non-display state according to the following distance, and the sub-blocks are constantly in a display state regardless of the status of the multiple blocks.
With the above arrangement, since the sub-blocks are constantly in a display state and the multiple blocks can be switched between a display state and a non-display state according to the following distance, by comparing the number of multiple blocks in a display state with the number of sub-blocks in a display state, recognition of the following distance can be made yet easier, thus effectively preventing the occurrence of erroneous recognition.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a vehicle-mounted mounted display device is proposed which is characterized in that, the number of the multiple blocks is the same as that of the sub-blocks.
With the above arrangement, since the number of the multiple blocks is the same as the sub-blocks, the total number of multiple blocks can be infallibly recognized on the basis of the total number of sub-blocks.
In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, a vehicle mounted mounted display device is proposed which is characterized in that the number of the multiple blocks is three; and when three blocks are in a display state, it means that the following distance is xe2x80x98longxe2x80x99, when two blocks are in a display state, it means that the following distance is xe2x80x98mediumxe2x80x99, and when one block is in a display state, it means that the following distance is xe2x80x98shortxe2x80x99.
With the above arrangement, since a xe2x80x98longxe2x80x99 following distance, a xe2x80x98mediumxe2x80x99 following distance and a xe2x80x98shortxe2x80x99 following distance are shown by switching the three blocks between a display state and a non-display state, the driver can recognize the target following distance at a glance.
In addition, the following distance in the present invention includes the following time. The following time is defined as the time required for the vehicle to reach the current position of a preceding vehicle.